


The neighbor

by WritingforTheAvengers



Category: The Defenders (Marvel TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, health workers deserve so much love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:28:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24620875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingforTheAvengers/pseuds/WritingforTheAvengers
Summary: You come home to a long shift as the hospital. The virus outbreak has consumed you whole, to the point that you were 100% sure that there was not a single edible item in your kitchen. But the note pasted to your front door elicits a great smile on your face, and the surprise inside melts your heart. You never knew how cool your neighbors could be.
Relationships: Frank Castle & Reader, Frank Castle/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	The neighbor

“ _Hey, this is Frank. Your neighbor from 205. Rumor has it you’re a nurse, and since you must be really tired, I took the liberty and cleaned your apartment and left you something to eat in the kitchen. Thanks for your service, you’re a real hero._ ”

You sighed in relief, since it was the first positive note someone left attached to your door. You smiled and made your way inside your perfectly cleaned apartment; it was a task you’d tackle later, since you had a couple of days off, but now that your neighbor saved you the pleasure, you’d use these days to really rest. You undressed yourself and thanked god for not having found a roomie yet; you left everything inside a plastic bag and headed to the shower to clean yourself up. You took an extra minute because the water was warm and your shift had been long enough already; some more time awake wouldn’t hurt you.

Once you were in your pajamas, you took the bag with clothes and left it all on the tub, but since it was late and not warm enough, you’d clean them in the morning when the sun was up. A great thing about having a well developed sense of direction was that you picked your apartment in a position to receive a lot of natural sunlight during the day, and it also had a small balcony to keep plants and your laundry, and stress-smoke every once in a while.

You headed to the kitchen and found a bag filled with ramen soups, water bottles, sweet snacks, and a bottle of Tylenol. One thing, in the shape of a bottle was covered in brown paper, called your attention and you prayed it was some booze, and as you uncovered it, you found Jesus’s blood with a note sticked to it.

“ _Hope you don’t think I’m cheap, but I thought you could use some alcohol. Enjoy it. Frank, from 205_ ”

You had to admit it, this Frank from 205 guy was the best person in the building, and it was a large building. Since he was a few floors beneath you, you’d pay him a short visit from the door first thing tomorrow.

You boiled water to eat the first one of your soups and decided to indulge yourself with some wine directly from the bottle. You opened your computer to watch Netflix, since the news were no longer of your interest--and they showed nothing new from what you lived on a daily basis, and found yourself really into Modern Family, again.

You finished your dinner and went back to te bathroom to finish drying your hair and washing your teeth. The clothes were looking at you from the tub, and though you knew you shouldn’t leave them there, you didn’t dwell too much in that. You were enough exhausted to get on your knees for a thing like that.

The next morning you woke up at abour 11 am, and it was your new record to sleep 12 hours straight. Since the virus emergency started, you couldn't sleep well. You were called from the hospital at all times, and you couldn't say no even if you just wanted to have an hour in peace. You drew back the curtains and woke up to a gorgeous spring day. Before having breakfast, you decided to wash your clothes and the clothes you had gathered in the course of a week and let them dry outside in your small balcony.

After you were done with that, you headed to the kitchen to have some breakfast, choosing tea over coffee and trying one of the sweet snacks you neighbor Frank had bought. You took a shower and headed downstairs to find that Frank guy. He opened the door slightly, and looked at you with wary eyes. It was a sensible thing to do since all he could see was your eyes and your wet, tied up hair.

"Frank? Hey, this is (Y/N), your nurse neighbor from 409. I just came by to thank you for leaving all that stuff for me, and cleaning my apartment too. I was gonna get round to it today, but you saved me big time," you chuckled, but he didn't seem to be entertained, more so, he looked like he was in some sort of pain, and a big one, because you could hear his teeth gritting. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine," he nodded and winced. "You're welcome."

"Frank, I'm a nurse, I'm sure I could help you," you folded your arms over your chest. "Besides, I'm still not infected. I was tested yesterday--please let me help you, I can tell you're in a lot of pain."

Frank sighed heavily and reluctantly let you in. Trying to help a hurt guy outside of work wasn't exactly the plan you had for your days off, all you wanted to do was non-work related stuff, but there you were, coming into your neighbor's apartment only to find him bleeding. You closed the door quickly behind you.

"I got this," he grunted. "I just need to stitch this shit--"

"Yeah, but you need to clean it first; clean it properly, of course. Do you have anything to make this squeaky clean?" Frank shook his head. "I'll be back in two minutes, try not to die, please."

And as you promised, you were back at his apartment in 120 seconds. He let you in, and without further questions, you got to the job. Since Frank was a silent patient, you took your time to look at him closely; there were many things about him that needed answers, but you weren’t sure if you wanted to hear, or if he’d tell you anyway.

"I do hope you know now that if you need stitching, I can do that for you. It must be hard to do it yourself, especially when you can't see well. I might have something to reduce their appearance, if you want to."

"Thanks," Frank replied after clearing his throat. "But that's not necessary--any of it."

"Alright," you shrugged quickly. "Try to see me in like a week to check up on that," you headed to the dish sink to wash your hands. "Don't mess with it, and should you feel any weirdness, let me know. You know where to find me."

"I'm sorry for making you work on your day off," Frank chuckled. "I'd invite you for a coffee or something but... I kinda have to go shopping."

"Does that mean that you shopped especially for me?" You cocked an eyebrow.

"Uhh--" Frank stuttered. "Yeah, I mean--I didn't want you to have the food that I didn't want. Didn't seem right."

"I really appreciate it," you headed to the door. "Bye, Frank. Try to stay safe and hopefully in one piece."

"You too, and thanks again," he nodded and you closed the door behind you, feeling glad to be useful even on your days off.

You came back to your apartment to get ready to go shopping.


End file.
